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Friday, June 22, 2012

Homeowners-to-Be

Has it REALLY been almost two weeks since my last post? Get ready for a long post with lots of pictures. Man, time is FLYING by these days! No pun intended, haha. Okay, not that funny. ANYWAYS... we are proud to announce that we are in the process of closing on a condo in Northport (about .10 miles from the Tuscaloosa line). I was thinking of holding off on sharing the details with everyone until after our closing date on July 17, but so many people have been asking me about whether we have found anything and wanting to know all about it, I kind of started to feel guilty for holding out! So...fingers crossed that posting pictures and calling this "ours" won't jinx the closing process...if everything goes as planned (and so far it has), we will be official owners of this property in a few short weeks!

I only have a few pictures now, but will post more once we actually move in. The condo is a 2 story town home on a "lake" (read: pond). The complex we are in has a pool and some really pretty grounds...trees everywhere, green space, etc.

For those of you who have been out of the loop, I am planning on staying here during most of the work week once I start school. The plan is for me to stay in Tuscaloosa on Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday nights, but that will, of course, have to be adjusted as needed. Chris won't be able to come to Tuscaloosa while he is in pilot training, but maybe once he is finished and (hopefully) an instructor pilot, he will be able to sometimes. After I graduate, we are currently hoping to use the condo as a rental property. It is near the local hospital and has a great rental history.
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The kitchen had updated cabinets, which we liked. The appliances are not updated, but that will be okay for now.

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A big selling point was the screened-in porch overlooking the "lake". It is really low right now because the city was doing some pipe maintenance, but we've been told it will be filled back up soon

A very nice sized living area. The carpet is clean and in good condition, but it needs to be stretched. And I will absolutely have to paint over that ugly red...dare I say, "crimson" stripe on the wall. The unit has a lot of natural light, which I like.

The entry hall on the first floor also has a half bath off of it. The upstairs has two large bedrooms, a master and a second bedroom, and a full bath. The master bedroom has a walk in closet. There is also a washer/dryer closet and a linen closet. The area seems to be very safe and is extremely close to a lot of businesses, restaurants, stores, etc. It is less than a mile from a great looking gym that I hope to join and from Highway 82, which goes straight to Columbus. It's about 3 miles from campus, and although I'm sure it will take me a good 15 minutes to get there on high-traffic days, it is nice to be convenient to the highway I will take to get home.

So, that's our headline story! For the record, we are trying to furnish this place as cheaply as possible...especially since I won't be having much company there and we really can't afford to buy much with the pay cut I am getting ready to take! If anyone has any of the following that they would like to donate or sell at a very competitive price ;) we are looking for the following:

Apartment-size fridge (apparently this is a size smaller than a regular fridge)

Sofa and love seat

TV stand

Bed and/or mattress

Pots/pans

Vaccuum

ironing board

bookcase

I'm sure there are tons of other things that we will realize we need. A lot of things that maybe people have sitting around their house that they have had for years and have since replaced with newer/better models and maybe they would love to get rid of the old model! :)

Two Fridays ago was Chris' class solo party, the party they have after everyone in the class has done their solo flight in the T-6. First they all got together for the naming part. This is when the person getting their call-sign (i.e. nickname) leaves the room, and everyone in the room talks about them and makes fun of them and chooses a call-sign, usually based off of a funny story about them. Wives don't get to attend the naming part. Chris' call-sign is Yogi because he "terrorizes park rangers". I don't know if I ever shared the story about how Chris (okay...and I) got into a verbal altercation with an out-of-line park ranger who tried to kick us and a group of friends out of a public park 2 hours before it closed so he could go home...even though we had just gotten our steaks off the grill...he was rude and yelled, called the guys derogatory names because he hates the Air Force, etc...well it was a big mess and Chris had to take a day off pilot training because the ranger wrote this ridiculaous "assault" ticket and we had to go to court and we won because it was stupid. Don't know if I ever shared that on the blog...I probably didn't want to because it's not the most flattering story but I feel like I have to for anyone to understand why Chris' name is Yogi now! So now the world knows our dirty secret, ha!

After the naming ceremony, the class rented a party bus to take us downtown to the Princess. The Princess is not only the most popular bar/club in town, but also happens to be Class 13-06's pilot partner (Chris is Class 13-06), which is like a business that sponsors your class throughout training. They set a bar in the back that I'm pretty sure was just for us, and they had karaoke which I, of course, sang a bunch of times and also sang a couple of times with some of Chris' classmates. I wish someone could convince Chris to sing karaoke with me! Maybe one day... Here are a couple of pictures from the party bus:

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I guess this face is supposed to convey excitement over soloing...?

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John, Autumn, and I on the way to the Princess on the party bus!

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Saturday was an exciting day because Chris and I headed to Auburn for a weekend of celebrating Hannah's engagement to her fiance, Chase, and Chris Sr.'s 60th birthday. The engagement party was at Lauren's parent's house. As always, there is a special place in my heart for my girls and I love to see them any chance I get! Here is a picture of us...Sara, Lauren and I are all bridesmaids in Hannah's wedding, along with Lauren Emily (who was also in my wedding), but she was moving from Tampa to Atlanta that weekend (yay!) and couldn't make it (boo!).

On Sunday, we had lunch at the Saugahatchee Country Club to celebrate Chris Sr.'s birthday. I'm glad Virginia put a nice lunch together for us, and it was great to be with family! We will be coming to Auburn again to celebrate next weekend, but have the added bonus of celebrating Aunt Bette's 90th birthday along with Chris Sr's 60th!

Well, I know this post is getting rather long winded, but I want to share a few more pictures before signing off!

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I took up swimming this week for exercise...here is a picture of Nancy and me at about 6:30 am getting ready for some laps! I'm sure people wonder where the heck I got the crazy turquoise and Christmas-tree themed swimsuit. I got it off this website where all the swimsuits were kind of expensive, but if I ordered the "grab bag" swimsuit, I got to pick my size and they would send my a mystery swimsuit, and it was only $15. So this is what they sent me! What I will do to save a buck! You better believe I will wear my $15 swimsuit loud and proud to the pool until it wears out!

Last weekend, we went to a cookout that Tommy's (one of Chris' classmates) parents, who were in town, threw. I think this picture is hilarious because literally everyone looks awkward in it. I'm wearing my glasses because I found out last week that I'm allergic to my contacts and have to wear my glasses for a few weeks and then have to switch to daily disposable ones! :( Such a bummer!

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Now that I'm finally home during the week and not in Birmingham, I can decorate for the Fourth of July! Here is my coffee table. I have a lot more decorations around the house. I will post pictures of them later.

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Another bonus of finally being home during the week...I have time to plan meals, grocery shop, and actually start cooking again! I have barely cooked or entertained at all the past couple of months, because I just haven't been home enough to plan, clean, and organize any nice meals or entertaining. Last Friday night, I made cilantro-lime rice, baked Parmesan edamame, glazed baked sweet potatoes, and salmon-in-a-bag.

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Jon and Ralph came over to eat the (Autumn was out of town). They were so excited about being photographed for the blog! haha

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Yummy meal on my 4th of July place mats! And the wine coaster that Meredith made me for Christmas!

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After dinner we went to Jon and Autumn's so the boys could work on their latest batch of homemade beer and I could sit around and watch TV while the dogs played. (The black and white one is Ralph's dog, Stuart)

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Ralph could not resist the urge to snuggle Mason! I mean, who could?

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For lunch on Saturday I made these delicious "turkey sandwiches" out of tomatoes, avocados, an olive relish that I made, cheese, and (obviously) turkey and bread.

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Sunday for dinner, Chris grilled some filets mignon and asparagus that I marinated with olive oil and balsamic vinegar, and we had some of the leftover rice from Friday...and some wine from our last wine club shipment. I bought Chris the year-long wine club membership last year for his wedding gift. It's hard to believe that our first anniversary is just a couple of weeks away, and our wine membership is already over! Time flies when you are having fun :)

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Maybe I haven't posted enough adorable pictures of our wittle baby Mason lately...here are some ones I wanted to share.

Mason modeling next year's Halloween costume...just kidding! This is just a picture my sister found online and sent to me, but it is so hilarious and looks just like Mason will when his adult coat grows out at 2 years.

Poor Mason! Every time we leave him at home, he runs out his dog door and sticks his head as far as he can underneath the fence and watches us leave! I feel so bad for him...I wish he could understand that Mommy and Daddy have to go out and make a living so that he can have nice things like toys and treats :) You may notice that the fence we spent half a day building is gone. Don't get me started!!!! Apparently we aren't allowed to put up fences unless they are tacky chain link ones. The leasing office threw a huge fit and made us take it down (after we also threw a huge fit that it should stay...the lease contract had some gray areas that we thought allowed our fence and they thought did not). Now Mason only has this tiny space of concrete to go do his business during the day, but at least it's better than him being stuck in his crate for 9 hours.

Mason cooling off in the shade after chasing his ball.

I have submitted Mason's picture to the Lee County Humane Society calendar contest and would appreciate your votes when voting opens! I will be sure to post on the blog and solicit votes all over the place when it starts!

Chris has been flying all week, still working on formation flying and also starting instrument flying. Instruments are what you use when weather or darkness prevent you from being able to see to fly the plane. His schedule this week has started at 5:30am, but, selfishly, I kind of like it because that means he is home by 5:30 pm, same time as me! Next week starts his night-flying week...the first flight isn't until 3pm. He does 12-hour days, so you do the math. I certainly will not be seeing much of hubby next week! I can't wait to hear about night flying, though, because it sounds cool! It's interesting on base when they have night-flying weeks, because you go to sleep to the sound of faint engines roaring in the distance...except, sometimes the distance is pretty close, and sometimes the noises aren't very faint. I wonder if I will be able to sleep knowing that one of them is Chris' plane! While Chris is still deciding whether he wants to go the T-38 route or the T-1 route, he has really loved formation flying and I feel that he leans more and more toward the T-38. As we know, only a small part of that decision is his! So we will just have to wait and see what he decides and, more importantly, what Uncle Sam decides in August.

Next week is my last week of work, my very last day being June 29! Last week I started working in Columbus instead of Birmingham, and I think I will be working here until my last day. I can't tell y'all how excited I am to finally start this new chapter, as the tension has been building for several months. I have been working a lot on my teaching materials for the class I am teaching in July. I must admit, it is a little intimidating to know that I will be teaching people who are barely younger than me. Some of them may even be older! But I'm excited and ready for it. I know as a college student, I didn't really think differently of my younger teachers...as long as they taught me what I needed to know in clear English, I really didn't care if they were 20 or 90! I think most college students probably have that attitude.

Before I finish, in honor of Father's Day, I want to say "Thank You" to all the fathers out there, especially my father, Chris' father, and his step-father, Greg. It's so sad that a lot of people these days don't have relationships with their fathers, because it is certainly a special relationship for a growing woman or man. I can truly say that both Chris and I are fortunate to not only have relationships with our fathers, but have very close relationships with them. We both enjoy being with our fathers and appreciate all the life lessons they taught us. We are also fortunate to love and have special relationships with our fathers-in-law. We look forward to all of those relationships growing and getting even better over time! Love y'all, and thank you for everything!